The papers presented at a symposium on subject retrieval held at the University of Maryland in May 1971 are contained in this proceedings volume. The titles of the speeches are as follows: (1) Subject retrieval in the seventies -- methods, problems, prospects; (2) Recent research trends in the field of information retrieval languages; (3) A general model for indexing languages: the basis for compatibility and integration; (4) The work of the British classification research group; (5) Thesaurofacet -- a new concept in subject retrieval schemes; (6) The PRECIS system for computer-generated indexes and its use in the British National Bibliography; (7) The Universal Decimal Classification as an international switching language; (8) The UDC in mechanized subject information; and (9) Library of Congress subject headings -- review and forecast. An edited version of the panel discussion, the list of symposium participants and a listing of the retrieval systems used by the participants are included. (SJ)